Art of aging or treating spirits.



- Pammted july s, |902. me. sco-rr. ABT 0F AGING 0B TBETING SPIRITS.

(Application filed Feb. 24, 1902.)

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Patented .Iuly '8, |902. R. C. SCDTT.

ART 0F AGING 0R TREATING SPIRITS.

(Application led Feb. 24, 1909 2 Shee'ts-Shee't 2,

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RICHARD CLARKSON SCOTT, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

ART OF AGING OR TREATING SPIRITS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,389, dated July 8,1902. Application filed February 24, 1902. Serial No. 95.441. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, RICHARD CLARKsoN SCOTT, manufacturer,a subject ofthe King of Great Britain, residing at 23 Drury Buildings, 2l Waterstreet, Liverpool, England, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in the Art of Aging or Treating Spirits, of which thefollowing is a specication.

In the specification of my former patent, No. 532,399, I have describedprocesses for treating spirits, in which the air vessel is cooled toabout 32O Fahrenheit or below, and the spirit is cooled to the sametemperature. I have now discovered that` it is not always necessary tocool the air. In these cases the spirit is cooled to about 32 Fahrenheitor below and is sprayed with a stream of air at the normal temperature.The temperature of the spirit in the vessel in which the spraying takesplace should be maintained at about 32 Fahrenheit or below. I find thatwith some classes of spirits it is beneficial to use air at the normaltemperature alternatively with cooled air.

Figure l is an elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan, of an apparatus forcarrying out the invention.

In this apparatus the air and spirit are cooled by ammonia, or othersuitable gas may be employed. y

A is the pump by which the ammonia is compressed into the pipe B andcoil C, the latter being in the vessel D, through which a stream of coldwater is continuously passed. The coil C is connected by the pipe E withthe coil F in the vessel G, containing brine, and the top of the coil Fis connected with the pipe H, which leads the ammonia back to the pumpA.

J is a band driving the turbine J' for circulating the brine in thevessel G.

Apparatus of this class is well known and requires no furtherdescription.

K is a vessel containing spirit, which is led by the pipe K to the pumpL, whence it passes by the pipe M up through the coil M in the vessel Gand by the pi pe M2 to the sprayer N' in the vessel N.

K2 is a pipe connecting the bottom of the vessel N to the pipe K', and Kis a cock at without passing through the nest of tubes P.

Q is a pipe connected to the top of the vessel N above the sprayer. Itleads the impure air from the vessel N to the top of the coil Q in thevessel G, and so by the pipe Q2 to the vessel R,in which condensationcollects i and may be drawn off from time to time, the air passing by apipe R to an outlet S.

Since the grant of my patent above referred to I have discovered thatdifferent classes of spirit require different treatments in order toeconomically cleanse or age them or remove injurious products, such asfurfurol. Brandy is a much more delicate spirit than Whiskyfi. e., givesoit its alcohol more readily-and pot-still whisky is more delicate thanpatentstill. When cold air is used, the evaporation of alcohol is not sorapid as when warmer air or air at normal or natural temperature-t'. e.,above 32 Fahrenheit-is employed. It is also true that diiferent brandsof the different classes of brandy, pot-still, patent-still, and otherclasses of spirits, vary in delicacy or the readiness with which theygive off alcohol when subjected to the action of air. Hence inpracticing my process I adapt the treatnient to the nature of thespirit. VWhen it is possible to do so, air at normal temperature isemployed; but if the evaporation of alcohol or other ingredients whichit is desired to save is too rapid cold air is used. Brandy is generallytreated with cold air throughout the process, while pot-still whisky ispreferably treated with warmer air; but if the treatment results in toomuch loss of alcohol the treatment by warm air is stopped, and thecold-air treatment is resorted to for a time at least. Afterward thewarm-air treatment may be renewed. With patent-still whisky I preferablyuse warm air or air at ordinary temperature, because when warm air isused the cost of refrigeration is saved; but when the evaporation ofalcohol is too great the cold-air treatment is employed. In all casesthe spirit itself is cooled to a temperature of 32 or below in order toprevent loss of its bulk or strength. In general it may be stated thatthe apparatus is operated to supply either cold or warm air, accordin gto circumstances. When the evaporation is too rapid, cold air is used;but when warm air can be used without loss it is employed. It will beobserved that the apparatus is adapted to supply the sprayer with eithercold or warm air. When cold air is used, it passes through the pipes Pof the refrigerator; but when warm air is` to be used it is made totraverse the by-pass pipe P3, a suitable cock, of course, being employedto direct the air either through the bypass ory through the pipe P. Thetime required to treat the spirit depends on the size of the vessels,the pressure, the temperature, and the amount of spirit dealt with. Ifthe vessel N contains one hundred and forty gallons, I preferably treatseventy gallons of spirit at one time, and if the pressure is fromtwenty to twenty-ve pounds the process would take from two andthree-fourths to four hours. The spirit is drawn out from the bottom ofthe spraying vessel through the pipe K2 and is continually circulatedthrough the apparatus by means of the pump L, which takes the spiritfrom the pipe K2 through the cock Ks and delivers itto thesprayerthrough the pipes M, M', and M2. When necessary,

the cock K3 may be set to cause the pump to draw the spirit from thepipe K' instead of from the pipe K2. If the process in treating a chargeof spirit like that abovevdescribed is worked for four hours, the spiritwill pass about seven times through the sprayer. The air passes onlyonce through the apparatus. It carries away with it the injuriousproducts, the presence of which in the air as it emerges from theapparatus is distinctly perceptible, while the alcohol or otheringredients which it is desired to save are not carried oli'.

l. rlhe herein described art of treating spirit by cooling it to about32 Fahrenheit or below and spraying it in a stream ofconstantly-changing air at a warmer temperature.

2. The herein-described art of treating spirit by cooling it to about 32Fahrenheit or below and spraying it in a stream of constantly-changingair alternately at a warmer temperature and at about 323 Fahrenheit orbelow.

RICHARD CLARKSON SCOTT.

Witnesses:

FREDK. C. WEATHERLY, JOHN H. WHITEHEAD.

